Of indeterminate age, gender, and ethnicity, the figures often seem caught in awkward, enigmatic moments which seduce the viewer into a labyrinth of open-ended questions. Poetically titled, the works invite the viewer to use one’s imagination to try to interpret their complex, allegorical narratives.
Initially engaged mostly with her own childhood memories, Williamson has in recent years focused on more universal, symbolic subjects, as well as the evolution of her painterly process with partially painted areas that reveal the drawing underneath the figures. A “thread of vulnerability” runs throughout her multi-layered work.
Williamson has affirmed that her painted metaphorical narratives are about interpersonal relationships and are often inhabited by figures of varying complexions alluding to multi-racial ethnicities. This co-existence and the story-telling aspects of her work probe the psychological landscape of adolescence, blurring the lines between race, gender, and class.
Philemona Williamson (b. 1951) lives and works in New Jersey, USA. Williamson recently had a mid-career retrospective at the Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey, USA. She has shown in institutions including The Queens Museum of Art, The Bass, Miami, and Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis. Williamson’s work is in museums including the Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey, USA, Kalamazoo Institutes of Arts, Michigan, USA; Mint Museum, North Carolina, USA; Smith College Museum of Art, Massachusetts, USA; Hampton University Museum, Virginia, USA and Sheldon Art Museum, Nebraska, USA. Her public works include murals for the NYC subway. Art & Object named her one of “10 Contemporary Black Artists You Should Know More About”. She currently teaches painting at Pratt Institute and Hunter College in New York.